


Eye of the Storm

by SocialDegenerate



Category: Gangsta. (Manga)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, Multi, Nightmares, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-08 06:15:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4293906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SocialDegenerate/pseuds/SocialDegenerate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nicolas has nightmares. Worick and Alex pull him through it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eye of the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> I'm currently writing a longer piece with the Benriya OT3 banging but I had to stop and get the melodrama out of my system before I could finish it.
> 
> Leahnolikeu asked for a fic where Nicolas has a nightmare and the other two comfort him, and although this turned out a little more nightmare than comfort I'm going to post it anyway.

It wasn't very often that Nicolas dreamt, but when he did it was _bad_.

Dreams of blood and violence and bodies oozing out in the streets; dreams of his own two hands ripping people to shreds, those who deserved it, those who didn't. Dreams of children being taunted and abused by those who should have cared, unable to fight back or speak up or do anything that could stop it.

Really, they were nightmares more than dreams, and although Nicolas would never admit to having them he could tell that the other two knew. Worick, of course, had found out years ago, having lived in close quarters with Nicolas during their early days under the Monroe Family's thumb. Even when Nicolas couldn't say much beyond rough, half-formed sounds, the act of waking suddenly with a jolt and a stifled cry was unmistakable regardless of how legible a person's words were.

Nicolas knew that he was better now, years of practice meaning that he no longer made any noise upon breaking out of blood-stained visions, and yet somehow Alex had found out about the dreams regardless. He wondered if maybe she recognised the dark smudges under his eyes or the hollow, haunted look within them; she still sometimes fell into hallucinations of Barry, although they were less common than they had once been, and Nicolas didn't doubt that she dreamt about him.

Worick, on the other hand, seemed positively well-adjusted compared to his lovers, but Nicolas knew that there was definitely a reason for his level of alcohol intake. None of them had led easy lives, and the memories often came creeping back in the dead of night when their guards were down in sleep.

It was comfort that had brought them all together, after all. It started with Worick and Nicolas snatching moments together when they were younger, a tenuous connection that had evolved into a sort of emotional support and then, later, into a sexual relationship. Nicolas wasn't sure if he could feel love any more but he would willingly stay by Worick's side for the rest of his life, giving back to the man who had given him so much and received nothing but pain in return.

Alex had been a different story altogether. As much as Nicolas tried to remind himself that Veronica was every reason why he should keep his distance, he couldn't help but reach out to Alex when he felt she really needed him. He left most of the touchy-feely nonsense to Worick, but he steadied Alex when she shook and pulled her from the past when she fell too deep and Worick wasn't around to help.

In return, she grounded him in a way that Worick couldn't, making him feel like he could maybe make amends for what he'd done to the last woman in his life. He knew that Alex was her own woman, despite what his brain occasionally tried to tell him, but every day that he touched her beautiful skin without hurting her was a win in his book.

The three of them had been in an emotional relationship for far longer than they had been a physical one, and it had snuck up on Nicolas quickly enough that he hadn't had time to reject someone new getting so close to him. He'd kind of assumed that Worick and Alex had been sleeping together anyway, to the point where it had actually surprised him that they hadn't been.

For some reason, two of the most beautiful people he'd ever seen had decided that they couldn't do without _him_ , the scarred and broken Twilight who brought nothing but misery from the very day his mother had died.

And as pleased as it made him to know that he was truly _wanted_ , his strengthening relationships seemed to be providing his subconscious with so much more nightmare ammunition. Worick had been fair game for his imagination for years, but Nicolas knew underneath it all that he was as resilient and physically strong as a human could possibly be.

Now though, while Alex was certainly able to take care of herself and not in the least bit weak, she wasn't as cold and hardened as Worick and himself. Nicolas didn't know if she would be able to kill to defend herself if the situation called for it, much less be able to kill _him_ if something truly terrible happened.

It was that lingering fear that was currently plaguing him, twisting normal thoughts into horrifying images that he couldn't escape from in his sleep. He saw himself in the throes of a manic Celebrer overdose, gouging out Worick's good eye before the man could take him down; his dream-self let out a scratchy laugh as blood and other fluids ran down his arm, watching as Alex fumbled for one of the guns they kept around the place.

She didn't last long, the training he and Worick had given her failing in the heat of the moment. His hand was around her neck before she could get a single shot off and he felt her trachea giving out under his grip, long nails scratching desperately but futilely at his arm and her mouth twisted open in a scream he couldn't hear. He watched the light fade from her eyes as she passed out with a kind of detached horror, feeling sick to his stomach but unable to break out of the nightmare.

That was, until Alex suddenly jerked under his throttling grip, smiling gently at him despite his violence and reaching out to run her hand through his hair.

“ _Wake up_ ,” she signed at him, immediately returning her hand to his hair the moment she finished signing. The sensation was relaxing enough that his hand dropped away from her neck and she smiled, her entire face lighting up like it only did when she was truly happy.

However it wasn't until he felt a sharp tug on his fringe that he actually woke up, Worick's scarred eye the first thing he saw as his own eyes flew open.

“Told you, Alex,” he thought he saw Worick say, squinting a little to lip read in the darkness of the room. “Gotta have a jolt to bring him out.”

“Don't be an asshole,” Alex seemed to reply before she turned her face back to him, the gentle hand in his hair starting to move again and letting him know why his nightmare had taken the turn it did. Alex was perched on the edge of his mattress and smiling down at him while Worick had somehow managed to climb over without alerting him, relaxing against the wall next to Nicolas with his arms casually resting behind his head.

“ _You woke us up_ ,” Worick signed when he saw Nicolas looking at him, his lips apparently saying the words as his hands spelled them out. _“_ _You deserved a little hair-pulling_.”

To anyone else, as was certainly the case with Alex if her shocked face was any indication, Worick's attitude towards Nicolas' nightmares must have seemed like unnecessary cruelty, but Nicolas preferred it that way. If Alex was tender concern, then Worick helped him feel like he wasn't someone to be pitied, and Nicolas would certainly take that over being coddled like the child he'd never gotten to be.

He was a little worried about the fact that he'd apparently been making noise during his sleep again, but it was hard to concentrate on that with the two most important people in his life sitting right beside him, regardless of the terribly early hour. Seeing them right next to him helped in kicking away the nightmare, the evidence of their good health- _relatively_ \- right there before his eyes. He also appreciated the fact that neither of them tried to question him about the nightmare, knowing that the last thing he wanted was to relive the darkness of his mind.

“ _Thank you_ ,” he finally signed, trying not to make eye contact with either of them lest he somehow manage to embarrass himself even more. Worick patted him on the chest in response and then gathered him up in his arms, tugging him further across the bed so that Alex could lay down next to them.

She seemed to try to take up as little space as possible, curling into Nicolas' side with her breasts pushed up against him; it was in stark contrast to Worick, who immediately lay half on top of Nicolas and tangled their legs together, a heavy yet strangely reassuring weight.

Nicolas could tell that the pair of them were taking care of him in the best way they each knew how, Alex naturally more reserved but no less caring than Worick's brash ass. Usually he didn't sleep after coming out of a nightmare but Nicolas could already feel himself being soothed by the gentle rhythm of Alex and Worick's breathing, the bloodstained images in his brain being replaced by the caring smile Alex was wearing and Worick's dumb, happy grin.

Nicolas still wasn't exactly sure if he could feel love, but if he had to guess then he was pretty certain that it probably felt something like this, slowly falling asleep between his lovers as they pushed the bad memories out of his head.

Maybe they'd talk tomorrow, maybe Worick would again bring up his proposal for Nicolas beginning to sleep upstairs, maybe Nicolas would agree. For now, though?

This was more than enough.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr yo](http://socialdegenerate.tumblr.com). Also, Blushingninja and I are currently running a challenge amongst ourselves to write a whole bunch of Benriya OT3 fics, [so if you have any ideas or prompts that you'd like to see written, drop them off in my inbox or in the comments here](http://socialdegenerate.tumblr.com/ask)!


End file.
